W

hile still in my mother'€™s womb, I was already a member of the Indonesian diaspora. My parents'€™ diplomatic postings meant a life moving between foreign countries, even while my mother was pregnant. And although I never heard the word '€œdiaspora'€ when I was a kid, it was the only sort of life I knew until I reached my teens.

So, when I sat in the assembly hall of the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) on Aug. 19 for the opening ceremony of the second Congress of Indonesian Diaspora (CID), I felt a strong connection to the other delegates. There were almost 4,000 from 55 Indonesian Diaspora Network (IDN) branches in 26 countries, and the energy in the hall was amazing: positive, dynamic, full of enthusiasm, pride and love '€” especially when the national anthem '€œIndonesia Raya'€ was sung.

That'€™s because relocating to another country '€” even changing citizenship '€” doesn'€™t mean loving your country of origin less. The old saying '€œdaripada hujan emas di negeri orang, lebih baik hujan batu di negeri sendiri'€ (even if it rains gold in another country, and rains rocks in yours, your own country is better) still applies to the Indonesian diaspora.

In his speech on the opening day, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed a paradigmatic '€” and pragmatic '€” shift in official attitudes to diasporic Indonesians. Whatever their legal status, he said, '€œas long as in your head, heart and blood there is '€˜Indonesia'€™, you will always be a part of the extended Indonesian family'€.

This is a major move away from the legalistic and historical xenophobic nationalism that Indonesia has espoused in the past, all too often looking to blame foreigners for all that ails our republic.

Why this sudden turn? Perhaps it is just belated recognition that Indonesians have a long tradition of merantau (migration in search of knowledge and fortune), especially among the Minangkabau, the Bugis of Makassar, the Banjar, the Bawean, the Madurese and the Batak.

Since the early 1990s, Indonesian migrant workers (TKI) have joined the ranks of the diaspora in droves, and currently number 6.5 million, spread out across 142 countries. In fact, there may now be as many as 10 million Indonesians living abroad in total.

Despite their overwhelming numbers (60-70 percent of all Indonesian diaspora members), it was not the TKI who stood on the stage at the Jakarta Convention Center to give presentations, but rather people like Sehat Sutardja, founder and CEO of Marvell Technology Group in the US; and Iwan and Nisin Sunito, the CEO of a leading property company in Australia and the owner of one of the largest cattle farms in Australia, respectively.

And of course, there was Sri Mulyani Indrawati, managing director of the World Bank since June 2010. She was praised by SBY in his speech as being '€œone of Indonesia'€™s best daughters'€. (Riiiiight. So why did he edge her out as finance minister after leading Golkar figures allegedly threatened by her drive for reform started attacking her?)

Certainly, the government realizes that there are economic benefits for recognizing the Indonesian diaspora. Recorded overseas remittances alone reached US$7 billion last year.

But it goes beyond remittances, business linkages and investments. There is also knowledge transfer, such as that provided by Daliana Suryawinata, an architect from Holland, to reduce flooding in Jakarta. The Netherlands, aptly named, as two-thirds of its area is below sea level, have experts who know a thing or two about flood control. And then there are the various humanitarian efforts and philanthropic activities provided by the Indonesian Diaspora Foundation.

IDN members are cultural ambassadors too. Hani White is one of them. She has lived for 12 years in the United States, is a realtor, activist, mother of three, president of the Indonesian Greater Community of Philadelphia and a bundle of energy who works tirelessly to bring a more positive and balanced view of Indonesia and Islam to the American public.

The IDN for me is part of the crème de la crème of the nation, residing abroad and strategically placed to create a global network. After the first CID in Los Angeles last year, the Indonesian Diaspora Brain Bank Network (IDNBB), a professional and social database, was set up and launched at the second CID in Jakarta to increase connectivity among IDN members and others.

Clearly, the IDN can boost Indonesia'€™s development in many ways. As Wahid Supriyadi, the dynamic head of the diaspora desk at our Foreign Ministry has pointed out, there are many who are itching to pitch in for Indonesia. Better to support them than those resident Indonesians who engage in corruption and damage our nation, huh?

Obviously, there are many issues relevant to the Indonesian diaspora, but the IDN now has two specific demands: proper representation in the legislature and dual-citizenship. On the latter issue, Julie Marsaban Stirling, secretary of IDN Tasmania, wrote a compelling paper for CID II (The Duel for Dual-Nationality), spelling out the legal problems and heartaches resulting from denying dual-citizenship to Indonesian children of mixed-marriages and those born and living overseas.

Both demands are being seriously considered, and while challenges obviously exist, the signs are encouraging. But what will happen in 2014 after the elections? Will the considerable achievements of the IDN and its supporters in the government be knocked down by the outdated pseudo-nationalistic '€œconcerns'€ of electoral and legislative candidates? Let'€™s hope they can think beyond 2014.

If not, maybe they should all pack up and move overseas too?

The writer is the author of Julia'€™s Jihad.